Everything You Need To Know When Starting A Plumbing Business

So, you’re considering starting a plumbing business—or you’ve just set up a plumbing business. Have you considered everything? It’s not as straightforward as a simple website page, compliance certificates, and word-of-mouth to secure clients. With business ownership comes a lot of responsibility, such as managing your finances, marketing efforts, permits and VAT, safety precautions, KPIs, team management, and so much more. While the ability to manage your own time, workload and salary is certainly beneficial, you must set yourself up in a way that guarantees success, not just financially but personally, too. Let’s take a look at the essential steps plumbers should take when setting up their very own business, from obtaining the right licences to writing a business plan. 

Creating Your Business Plan

Every single business needs one. There is no denying the value that these have to the success of a business, not only for plumbers but any trade. Your business plan will be the foundation on which you run your operations from day to day. This will include your business goals, be that monthly or annually, as well as the strategies you can put in place and the processes you implement to meet them. Your business plan should highlight financials, team growth, client growth and general business development. Here are some more details to consider when writing up your very first business plan:

The Summary - This will give a generic overview of who you are as a business, what you do, your objectives and a mission statement.

The Analysis - Market and competitor analysis is an essential step when setting up your business model. Understanding the industry averages on turnaround times, pricing, and service offerings will help you meet the expectations of your future customers and remain ahead of tradesmen in the same area.

The Services - You will need to write detailed descriptions for each individual service you provide your clients. This will not only be displayed on your website, it's excellent to have this outline so clients aren’t left dissatisfied with your work and your team knows what is expected of them.

The Marketing - Within your overall business plan, you should establish the ways you plan to market your business to gain new customers. Unlike the safety of regular paychecks as an employee, as the business owner, without regular customers, you won’t have a consistent or reliable salary. Marketing should consider optimising website content, social media, email marketing, and paid advertising. In addition, you could go to old school by hanging flyers in local areas or attending local events.

The Finances - Projections are important. Ensure you have these in place for income, expenses, and profitability. Alongside your projections, you will also need to consider upfront costs for equipment and materials, the startup costs of registering your business and any required training.

Gaining Licences For Compliance

There are a few permits, certificates and licences you will be required to obtain before starting to take on projects and meet with customers on-site. In the trade of plumbing, here are a few you will need to source.

• Plumbing licence to prove you are legally able to carry out work
• Business licence to become a registered business in your local area
• Permits to meet your local regulations
• Insurance to protect your business, including liability, compensation and property

Marketing Your Business

Implementing marketing efforts, either yourself or with the help of others is essential to growing your business sustainably and successfully. Unlike many think, you do not need thousands of pounds to invest in this, it can be done in a budget-friendly manner for startups. Here are a few tips.

Online presence

This ensures people searching for your service are met with your business. Having a professional yet simple website alongside active social media platforms drives awareness, all while making you appear more credible.

SEO & PPC

If you do happen to have some money to invest in marketing, it is wise to do this with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. Both of these improve your visibility and attract leads.

Networking

One significantly important and fairly cheap way to get your name and skills heard is through networking. Join local business pages and attend events when possible.

Business Expenses & Finances

Your finances will be detrimental to the success of your business. Ensuring you have the funds, income, and accurate projections is key. Below, you will find some considerations to factor into your initial financial plan.

Startup Costs:

• Top-of-the-range tools
• Efficient equipment
• Reliable vehicles
• Office space
• Marketing
• Registration fees
• Accounting system

Technology Resources

With the use of technology, from day one of setting up your business, you can streamline operations and guarantee client satisfaction. With the help of Powered Now’s business management software, you have an invaluable tool to help schedule projects, create quotes, send invoices, handle paperwork and improve client communication. It’s the all-in-one tool for plumbers looking to make life as a business owner a little bit easier - less time thinking about admin, more time getting to work.

Setting up a plumbing business requires planning, regular compliance checks, successful marketing efforts, and efficient financial management. In preparation for your launch, you can use the tips above from Powered Now to set the foundation for your plumbing business. You’ve taken the first steps; now watch the success follow (with a little hard work from you, of course!)